Khalila
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "close friend" or "companion".
Name Census estimates that about 349 living Americans carry the first name Khalila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Khalila today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Khalila births was 2019 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Khalila. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Khalila with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
349
~ 1 in 982,104 Americans
Peak year
2019
24 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,880
Tracked since 1977
Census
Khalila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 322 people with the first name Khalila, which placed it at #28,067 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#28,067
National first-name rank
People counted
322
322 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Khalila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khalila is Black at 62.1%. The next largest groups are White (12.1%) and Hispanic (11.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Khalila described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Khalila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.1% · 200
- White12.1% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino11.5% · 37
- Two or more races10.2% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Khalila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Khalila from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 97 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Khalila remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Khalila by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Khalila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Khalila
The name Khalila originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in the Semitic languages of the Middle East. It is a variation of the name Khalil, which means "friend" or "beloved" in Arabic. The name Khalila likely emerged in the 7th century CE, during the early days of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language across the region.
Khalila can be traced back to the Arabic word "khalla," which means "to be intimate" or "to be a close friend." This suggests that the name was originally associated with the concepts of friendship, intimacy, and affection. It is possible that the name was initially given to children as a way of expressing the parents' hope for their child to grow up to be a beloved friend or companion.
The name Khalila appears in various Arabic literary works and historical records throughout the centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the famous collection of Arabic folk tales, "One Thousand and One Nights" (also known as "The Arabian Nights"). In this work, Khalila is mentioned as the name of a character, though the specific details of her story have been lost to time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Khalila. One of the earliest recorded examples is Khalila bint Ahmad al-Marwazi (born around 900 CE), a renowned poet and scholar from the city of Marw (now in modern-day Turkmenistan). She was highly respected for her mastery of Arabic literature and her contributions to the field of poetry.
Another notable figure was Khalila al-Kubra (1024-1087 CE), a Sufi mystic and saint from Baghdad. She was known for her spiritual teachings and her dedication to the Sufi path of love and devotion. Her life and works have been celebrated by Sufis throughout the centuries.
In the 12th century, Khalila bint al-Hakim (1098-1165 CE) was a prominent female physician and scholar from Aleppo, Syria. She made significant contributions to the field of medicine and was highly regarded for her expertise in treating various illnesses.
During the 14th century, Khalila bint al-Azhar (1317-1384 CE) was a celebrated poet and calligrapher from Cairo, Egypt. Her works were widely appreciated for their beauty and eloquence, and she was renowned for her skill in the art of Arabic calligraphy.
In more recent times, Khalila Sabra (1923-2005) was a celebrated Palestinian writer and poet. Born in Haifa, she was known for her powerful and poignant works that explored themes of displacement, resilience, and the Palestinian struggle for justice.
These individuals, spanning various centuries and regions, illustrate the enduring nature of the name Khalila and its deep roots in Arabic culture and history. While the name continues to be used today, its origins and historical significance remain an important part of its legacy.
People
Khalila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Khalila as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Khalila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Khalila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 349 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Khalila going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 982,104 US residents.
Is Khalila a common name?
We classify Khalila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 358 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Khalila most popular?
The single biggest year for Khalila was 2019, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Khalila is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Khalila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 322 people with the name Khalila, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,067 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Khalila in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Khalila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Khalila leans strongly female. 320 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 9 male bearers (2.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Khalila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khalila is Black at 62.1%. The next largest groups are White (12.1%) and Hispanic (11.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Khalila most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Khalila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.1% (200 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Khalila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Khalila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Khalila in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Khalila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Khalila in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Khalila can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Khalila?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.